I've often written about Peter David, "Writer Of Stuff." He's a very successful and quite prolific author, having succeeded in science fiction, fantasy, comics, movies, and TV. (For example, he wrote two episodes of "Babylon 5.") Politically, he's an absolute raving moonbat, and makes it abundantly clear on his blog.

Despite that, he's a hell of a decent guy. I've seen him at four public events, and he's always been a great entertainer. If I were to try to sum up his attitude at such things, I'd have to say "professional." He sees himself as a writer, and as such he sees public appearances as part of his job. He's not only responsible for writing the stuff, but promoting it as well. To the best of my knowledge, he never charges for appearances, autographs, or photographs -- lord knows he could have charged for this photo, and didn't -- but merely asks for the event holders to cover his room, board, and transportation. (Basically, he'll give away his time, but he doesn't want to end up paying out of his own pocket to attend these events.)

And lemme tell ya, if you have PAD at your event, the man will make that minimal investment worth your while.

Anyway, recently, PAD was invited to attend the United Fan Con in Springfield, MA next month. He told them his requirements, they said sure, but then said nothing. Finally, they disinvited him, saying that they simply couldn't afford to cover his modest costs.

This was the second time in recent months that he'd been disinvited from a convention, and he was a little annoyed. Word got around the fan base, and quite a few people expressed their disappointment -- some quite strenuously. In fact, several said that they were going to skip the Con entirely based on the organizers' treatment of PAD.

Well, I dunno if they saw the light or felt the heat, but one of their big-name guests (Aaron Douglas, "Chief Tyrol" of the new "Battlestar Galactica") canceled and freed up some funds and they un-disinvited PAD.

(If you read the comments on that thread, you will see the application of "troll disemvowelment" there. I've been kicking this piece around for a few days, and -- dammit -- sat on it long enough for Kevin to steal my thunder and implement it here.)

The organizers still end up looking a bit like jerks, but -- in all fairness -- they deserve to. But they ended up delivering on their promise to PAD and their attendees, because PAD believes that he owes a great deal to his fans, and never forgets that they are, ultimately, pay to support him and his family.

Nice post, but I'm not sure what his political orientation has to do with it. One of the things that drove me away from the left is their insistence on dragging politics into EVERYTHING. If the guy's a mensch, he's a mensch. His moonbattery only obtains if he's talking politics.